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Crime And Punishment

author-image
DQI Bureau
New Update

With massive

investment and 600 installation sites, NCRB attempts to round up more rouges. It seems the

sequel to Crime and Punishment would be authored by the computer not Dostoevsky!

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The Police's efforts toward computerizing

its department dates back to 1976. However, Sharda Prasad, Director of National Crime

Records Bureau (NCRB), says, "IT applications have received the impetus only since

1980."

"Before that we were using TDC 316

from ECIL, which demanded a proper infrastructure available only at the state capitals.

While the actual users were the police stations and since stations were in the interiors,

there was a major problem of running the system there," recalls Prasad. "But in

1982 came the turning point when our department made special efforts to integrate the

system with desktop computing. This required special software packages and training which

we decided to take up immediately," says Prasad.

Fact-Sheet: color="#000000" size="3" face="Courier">



Organization: NCRB



Director: color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">Sharda Prasad



Investment in IT (to date) : color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial"> Rs 29.12 crore


Utilization of Funds in 96-97: color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial"> 108.75 percent


Hardware : color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial"> 486s and RISC-based systems


Software : color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial"> Unix, Ingres, Crime Criminal Information
System (CCIS)




Vendors: size="2" face="Arial"> HCL-HP, Fujitsu ICIM


Consultant: color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial"> TCS


Installation Sites: color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial"> 605


Current Status: color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">Phase 1 completed, i.e. computerization and
standardization of procedures and forms till the district Level.






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Hence, a proper planning and strategy came

up to fulfill the IS requirements so as to assist the Police at all levels of

investigations. Need-based plans came to the fore based on the recommendations of the

National Police Commission (1977-79) and in the detailed implementation modalities

suggested by a Task Force (1985) constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The result

was the creation of National Crime Records Bureau in 1986 by way of reorganizing and

merging various units such as Directorate of Coordination Police Computers, Data Section

of Coordination division of CBI, Statistical Section of BPR&D, and Central Finger

Print Bureau of CBI.

bgcolor="#EAEAEA" align="left">

In-house

Software Packages

  • Wanted/Arrested Information System (WAISYS)
  • Property Coordination System for:



    Lost/Recovered Automobiles


    Lost/Recovered Fire-arms


    Lost/Recovered Cultural Property

  • Fingerprint Name-Indexing System
  • 40-Digit Semi-Automatic Fingerprint

    Identification System
  • Statistical packages for the following

    publications:



    Crime in India


    Monthly Crime Statistics


    Accidental Deaths and Suicides

  • 'Talash' for matching of missing/kidnapped

    persons with the unidentified bodies.

After the creation of NCRB as a

national node, state crime records bureaus as well as district crime records bureaus in

the respective states have been created in 20 states and four union territories. This has

brought about uniformity in standards of investigation and procedures. Earlier, the

investigation forms to record details of investigation, though common, varied to a great

extent from state to state in number and design. Some were structured and printed while

others were simply unstructured manuscripts. The law under which police discharge their

duties being common, the need for standardization and systematization was desired. Thus

arose the need of data for computerization which calls for a set of input forms and

transcription of the data from the records of investigation/crime to computer input forms.

Today, there exists a viable solution through a set of integrated investigation forms.

These forms have not only brought about uniformity in investigative procedures but also

made the task of investigating officers simple and easy. As one of the officers who was

taking computer training at the Bureau comments, "Initially, we did not take the

usage of computers very happily but eventually we have come to realize that it has

definitely brought about reduction in too much writing work as now one form serves the

field needs and computer data entry. And no additional efforts are required to generate

statistical reports."

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In-house Expertise color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">



The NCRB has, with its in-house expertise developed its own Police applications specific
software. This has encouraged the State Police agencies to subscribe data promptly and

make use of the systems. This is evident from the volume of data available as on 31st July

1997.


  • Wanted criminals: 142,779
  • Automobiles: 243,974
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  • Fire-arms: 84,945
  • Stolen/recovered cultural property: 36,758
  • Inter-state criminals: 1,716
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  • Terrorists/extremists: 7,862
  • The Data Bank consisting list of stolen

    automobiles is also utilized by the Regional Transport Office, Delhi when transfer of

    registration of vehicles is applied for. Before issuing a 'No Objection Certificate', it

    is verified whether the vehicle in question is the stolen one. So far NCRB has detected

    3,785 cases in which there have been attempts to transfer registration of stolen vehicles.

    The concerned police authorities were informed to take action in the cases registered.

    This methodology is being introduced in all the states.



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    R&D Efforts
    • The Bureau has made commendable efforts in

      developing various projects:
    • Inkless Fingerprinting Kit Project (in

      collaboration with RRL, Jorhat)
    • Indigenous Laser Equipment for developing

      chance prints (In collaboration with CAT, DoE)
    • Development of Application Software: Force

      Deployment System etc.
    • Development of Hand Held Data Entry Machines

      for police stations (In collaboration with DoE).

    Besides making the operations smooth and

    fast, statistical information on crime and criminals has its own significance for the

    purpose of police administration, planning and strategies, and also for the purpose of

    research and studies on criminology and criminogenic environment. Till 1991, the

    publication of crime statistics at the national level was not on a concurrent basis which

    did not afford a meaningful analysis of trends and patterns of crime in India. As a result

    of continuous efforts to reduce the time gap in publication of crime statistics, Crime In

    India publications are now being published almost concurrently because of computerization.

    Newer concepts too have been added. In the latest publication Crime in India-1995, the

    coverage of crime statistics has for the first time included Crimes against Women, Crimes

    against Children, Crimes Against Weaker Sections Of Society, Economic Crimes etc.

    Netting Criminals color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">



    The NCRB is connected to the global network UN Criminal Justice Information Network
    (UNCJIN) for the latest information in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice.

    "This network provides us the information on the latest technology innovations in

    combating crime, and also we are able to compare the crime figures of various countries

    and the way they are tackled," says Prasad. The Bureau has also got the facility of

    email. At the moment, about eight locations are connected with email.

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    Training Cops color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">



    "Initially we have had slight problems in training our personnel as they had a mental
    block toward any change. We observed that the younger blood is still keen to work on

    computers while the older lot are hesitant," says JC Dabas, IPS, Dy Director, NCRB.

    Nevertheless, a vital role has been played by NCRB in this field. An intensive program has

    been launched for training the State Police officers in various aspects of crime records

    management including finger prints and technical training on computers and computer center

    management. A considerable sum of Rs 10 lakh has been spent so far only on the guest

    faculty members.

    To decentralize training at the regional

    level, Police Computer Training Centers (PCTCs) have been set up in five places in the

    country-Calcutta, Lucknow, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, and Barapani. As an extension to NCRB

    training, these centers cater to the training need of operational personnel from,

    sub-inspectors to dy superintendents of Police.

    Future Plans color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">



    Despite all the efforts so far, it seems a lot has yet to be achieved. According to
    Prasad, "I am not fully satisfied with the present state of IT at NCRB."

    "My target is governed by the `user want'. Victim of the crime is the user. If my

    child gets lost, his picture should be flashed at all the police stations in the minimum

    time possible. At present the photograph reaches the police station after three days or

    may even get lost in transition. From the police station it goes to the state headquarters

    where it is duplicated and then sent to district headquarters for the investigations. So

    this is a vicious cycle of transmissions and re-transmissions."

    Computerized Crime Prevention

    Projects

    Project 1:

    Creation Of Crime-criminal Information Network
    size="2" face="Arial">



    The Government of India sanctioned Rs 23.37 crore project for maintaining a Crime-Criminal
    Information System in March 1994. NCRB, jointly with its consultancy agency TCS, has

    undertaken the vital exercise of System Analysis and Design through a series of joint

    application design workshops involving a cross section of police officers from various

    states comprising different ranks. Computers have been installed at 570 Police districts

    with respective district nodes networked with 32 computers at State/UT capitals and these,

    in turn, networked with NCRB. The project has been successful to the extent of data entry

    and data retrieval.



    Project II: Automatic
    Fingerprint Identification System
    face="Arial">



    The Bureau has established an Automatic Fingerprint Identification System called as
    Fingerprint Analysis and Criminal Tracing System (FACTS). It is indigenously developed by

    the NCRB with DoE and CMC. The Bureau stores more than four lakh fingerprints in the hard

    copies which are being transferred to the computer. The aim is to ultimately integrate

    both CCIS and AFIS, facilitating easy identification of criminals wherever they are

    apprehended. There is a proposal to install similar systems in the States/UTs.



    Project III: Portrait Building
    System




    Through in-house expertise the Bureau has developed a Portrait Building System called
    Facial Analysis and Criminal Identification System (FACIS). It enables reconstruction of

    the features of a criminal or suspect from the victim's or witness' account to enable a

    lookout for a criminal matching the descriptions. This system being operational in all the

    states, has helped in the detection of 596 criminal cases, several of them sensational.




    Project IV: color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">



    Laser-based Latent Print Finder has been developed jointly with the DoE and ECIL for
    speedy processing, detection and photo-capture of latent finger prints, document

    examination, forgery cases etc.



    Project V: color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">


    Implementation of Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) in states. At
    present, it is functional only at the Bureau.




    "I want to minimize the delay in the

    communication channels," says Prasad. For that purpose, `POLNET' scheme has been

    recommended which will be a dedicated communication system for the Police department. It

    will include voice, data, and fax. On implementation, it will eventually link all the

    police stations. Directorate Co-ordination Police Wireless (DCPW) has been assigned the

    task for its implementation. Sources say that unfortunately, there has been not much

    progress on this front though the talk has been going on since past three years. Unless

    there is a proper networking system, the entire gamut of IT paraphernalia will be useless.

    • Future Plans: color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">



      Crime Criminal Information System will be made much more responsive.
    • Software development has to be much more

      extensive.
    • There would be a separate cadre for the IS

      personnel in the Police department.
    • To enhance the transferring of prints from

      the current 250 prints per day the number of workstations would be increased.
    • Setting up a web site on the anvil.

    Finally, if the investigating officer gets

    the information at the earliest then the purpose of the Bureau is served. Now, since

    everything is centered around information the monitoring committee has suggested a change

    of name of NCRB to National Crime Information Bureau.

    Well now it's only a matter of time when

    we'll have 'mouse' instead of rats to trouble our constables in their respective thanas.

    So watch out, maybe your police inspector can be approached only on the Net!

    User Brief

    Cyber CD On English Conversation color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">



    Cyber Multimedia, a division of Cyber Media India Ltd, has launched a CD ROM titled,
    Adventures In Speaking English. Focused particularly on spoken English, it is a unique

    learning experience loaded with graphics, animation, and sound. Developed by Jiva

    Institute, it is first of its kind CD for English conversation targeted at the age of 10

    and above. The CD ROM comes soon after the tremendous success of the company's first CD

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    Enterprise Solutions From Datacraft RPG color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">



    Datacraft RPG has launched Datacraft Enterprise Solutions (DES) for its enterprise
    customers. DES is aimed at providing with networking infrastructure solutions, backed by

    support service. Datacraft will work in partnership with Cisco Systems and also feature

    Cisco's end-to-end networking solutions and its entire product range.

    24 Hours Support From Wipro color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">



    Wipro Infotech has launched Wipro FlexiServ, a 24-hour-a-day and seven-day-a-week
    comprehensive support service. The system has been designed by the company's Support

    Division for running time-sensitive and critical applications. FlexiServ is an

    incidence-based package that provides extended hour support, beyond working hours from 6

    pm to 9 am. It is designed to upgrade Wipro's prime shift maintenance contracts for both

    hardware as well as software. The system offers an average defined response time of two

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    PC From GIDs For Rs 36,990 color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">



    The Genuine Intel Dealers (GIDs) have announced a PC with Intel Pentium 200 MMX machine
    with Samsung's 2.1 GB HDD, 1.44 FDD, and a 14" color monitor, 16 MB RAM, and

    Microsoft mouse, pre-loaded with Win95 and MS Works and a free one-year email subscription

    for Rs 36,990. The PC comes in the wake of Zenith Computers' launch of the same PC for Rs

    33,500, without software and mouse.

    Unicorp To Computerize Allahabad Bank color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">



    Unicorp Industries has bagged a Rs 10.39 crore order to computerize Calcutta-based
    Allahabad bank. The project entails automation of the branches of the Bank. The company

    has earlier handled similar projects for Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation of

    India.

    Leading Edge To Network Cognizant Technology color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">



    Calcutta-based Leading Edge has bagged an order worth $ 75,000 for networking from
    Cognizant Technology (formerly Dun & Bradstreet Satyam Software). The order involves

    ATM-ready Lucent structured cabling for 450 nodes as well as 2 km of fiberbackbone which

    will connect the nodes in two places to run both voice and data.

    Rs 8.5 Crore Order For HCL Insys color="#000000" size="2" face="Arial">



    HCL Infosystems Ltd (HCL Insys) will supply, install, and commission over 1,000 Pentium
    II-based computers and an equal number of printers for the Income Tax Department. This

    order, worth Rs 8.5 crore, forms a part of the Directorate of Income Tax's nationwide

    computerization project.

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